1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic devices, and more particularly to devices with displays configured to display stored images.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some digital cameras have a memory to store a plurality of images and a display to view an image stored in the memory.
Some digital cameras have a memory to store a plurality of executable functions, modules and data. But any memory space available for buffering images for quick retrieval and display is limited.
A device and method for scrolling stored images across a display are provided in accordance with the present invention. The device may be any electronic device with a display, such as a digital camera. One aspect of the device provides smooth and continuous horizontal scrolling from one image to another image. In one embodiment, a processor stores a plurality of decoded images in a plurality of frame buffers. The decoded images are available for a display controller to quickly retrieve and display before and after a currently displayed image.
Another aspect of the device provides a scroll rate that is faster than the scroll rates provided by other display devices. In addition, a profile of variable scroll rates may be stored in tables. Variable scroll rates may simulate acceleration and deceleration and achieve a visually pleasing result.
Another aspect of the device efficiently uses processing cycles of a processor. The device allows processing cycles to be slowed to conserve power.
One aspect of the invention relates to a device configured to display images. The device comprises a storage component, a first buffer, a second buffer and a display controller. The storage component is configured to store a plurality of images. The first buffer comprises a plurality of lines and is configured to store a first image from the storage component. The second buffer comprises a plurality of lines and is configured to store a second image from the storage component. The lines of the first buffer are interleaved with the lines of the second buffer in a common memory space. The display controller is coupled to the first and second buffers. The display controller is configured to retrieve a part of the first image from the first buffer and a part of the second image from the second buffer. The display controller is further configured to send the retrieved parts to a display.
Another aspect of the invention relates to a method of displaying images. The method comprises copying a first image from a storage component into a first buffer and copying a second image from the storage component into a second buffer. The first and second buffers comprise a plurality of lines interleaved in a common memory space. The method further comprises retrieving a part of the first image from the first buffer and a part of the second image from the second buffer and sending the retrieved parts to a display.